Verbal exchange heat up City Council
Zulueta
A heated exchange of words ensued among several City Councilors in last Wednesday's regular session after the name of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez was mentioned as having influence over some members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
The verbal exchange started when the city council took up the item with regard to the plan of the family of a defeated candidate for councilor to redeem a certain property.
The verbal war started when Councilors Ely Estante and Armand Parcon explained their votes, abstaining from the passage of a resolution for Milagros Divinagracia, mother of Bobby Divinagracia to redeem their property at San Agustin, City Proper. The resolution was authored by Councilor Eduardo Peñaredondo.
Acap
Prior to the passage of the resolution, Peñaredondo presented his committee report and cited Article 263 as basis for the family to redeem the property. His citation was countered by Councilor Eldrid Antiquiera saying it is not the appropriate provisions for the family to redeem the property.
However, Peñaredondo stood firm on his committee report. Peñaredondo even told the body that he is willing to be jailed should Antiquiera prove that he is using a wrong citation. The city council has been using Article 263 of the Local Government Code every time the issue on property redemption crop up. The councilor added he passed the bar exam with flying colors.
The discussion even went livelier when Councilor Antonio Pesina demanded Peñaredondo to present documents regarding the forfeiture of the property in favor of the city government.
On his part, Peñaredondo said there is no actual forfeiture of the property from the City Registry of Deeds. And it is not his duty to attend government auction of the foreclosed properties of private individuals.
After three lawyer-councilors rendered different legal views on the redemption of property, a division of the house was made whether to approve or disapprove the committee report. Five councilors abstained for the approval of the committee report, two objected and the rest voted for the approval of the said report.
Those who abstained were Councilors Ely Estante, Armand Parcon, Lyndon Acap, Julienne Baronda and Jeffrey Ganzon. Those who objected for the approval of the committee report were Councilors Pesina and Antiquiera.
Since majority of the members of the city council approved the committee report, Peñaredondo moved for the approval of a resolution in favor of Divinagracia. A division of the house was called for. The councilors who abstained for the approval of the committee report also abstained for the passage of a resolution.
Ultimately, the resolution was approved. However, before the council proceeded to the next item in the agenda, Councilors Estante and Parcon explained their votes. Parcon said there is a clear ambiguity of the law in redemption process. The three lawyers could not even reconcile the exact provisions of the law.
The discussion heated up when Estante told the body that he voted on what he feels is right and they were not mandated by Secretary Gonzalez to abstain from voting for the resolution. He said he heard Councilor Perla Zulueta saying "bal-an mo gid mga tawo ni Raul." This prompted him to stand and explained his vote.
Councilor Perla Zulueta also stood and reiterated before the body the rules governing abstention. She said under the rules, a councilor normally abstains from voting if he or she has pecuniary interest on the issue and if he or she is ignorant of the law. She told the council "to take their pick."
This caused laughter inside the session hall.
Later Councilor Acap stood to rebutt Zulueta, he started talking though he was not recognized by the presiding officer.
Speaking in Hiligaynon, Zulueta said "ano-ano ka imo Lyndon? I don't know what's happening? Nali matirohan ko diri akon karon. My nerbyos ako, pero ang nerbyos ko indi atras-abante kundi abante."
It was then that Mabilog called for a recess. Even then, the arguments between the groups did not stop. Pesina suggested that councilors should avoid unnecessary comments and just stick to the issue in order not to hurt their colleagues.
However, Zulueta said she will not heed the request of Pesina. If they want they can also inject sarcasm during their delivery since even in the Senate it is being done and it is only a matter of how to do it.
Later, the verbal squabble was stopped with interventions from cooler heads at the city council. On his part, Mabilog assured that he can handle the conduct of the session in cases where heated arguments occur. "This is the reason why a presiding officer is designated," he said.